Explanations
by YoungestCullen8
Summary: Sookie returns to Bon Temps after being gone a year to find out everything has changed. She gets the scoop from someone close to the owner of her house.


**Author's Note:** I love the new season of True Blood so here's my take on the next few weeks of Sookie's life as she returns to Bon Temps.

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She'd only been back three weeks and now she was tempted to go where no woman ever went alone; well, no respectable anyway. She was a respectable woman but this was insane.

But the world had changed the in thirteen months she had been away. Bill was now King of Louisiana, Eric had bought her house, Jason was a cop, Tara had left town, and Sam was being…well Sam. The part about Eric buying her house had irked her to no end but finding out two of the three reasons he bought it made her forgive him. Somewhat.

His reasons for buying her house were as follows: 1) he had never given up on her returning as so many others had, 2) if he owned her house, he, in turn, owned her, which she knew was complete and utter horse shit, and 3) he needed it as a safe haven.

While she had been gone, Eric's faithful, if not crazy, follower had been attacked. If you're thinking Pam, well, you're completely wrong. The person he needed to hide for the better part of six months was Kaden Taylor Northman, Eric's sister for all intents and purposes. It was odd because Kaden was a werewolf and Eric a vampire. The two had basically "grown up" together if you wanted to put it that way. In other words, they had been raised by the same man for over a thousand years. Kaden stayed with him until his death two years prior. She had taken on his name upon moving back to Shreveport.

During the course of the year, Kaden had been on a mission for the head honcho of the werewolves. The way Eric told it, she had been on her way home when she had been attacked. Her motorcycle, which Eric described as a death trap, had been broadsided by a car and it flew into a ditch. She hadn't been hurt at first but then she'd been shot with a silver bullet right in her thigh. Normally a werewolf would heal fast but with silver coursing through her system, Kaden couldn't heal properly. Eric had felt her pain and went to her immediately.

He had a witch doctor on speed dial. He called her and she met him at his new house. Alcide Herveaux also met him. He was the only other wolf that Kaden would even listen to in a jam like that. He told Sookie Kaden had been pumped full of so much silver and a type of silver by product that it would have killed her in a matter of minutes if he hadn't showed up when he did. She had been put on bed rest, which seriously hindered her working ability. He said for two months after the attack her body had been expelling silver from her pores and nose.

When she returned home, he had told her he bought the house and she was ready to knock him silly. After he showed her all the additions he made, he led her upstairs to the attic. Alcide had been up there with a hysterical Kaden. She was coming off the medication the witch doctor had given her and it was making her insane. She was lucid enough not to attack the people who walked through the door. Alcide's comment was less than comforting.

In the last three weeks, Kaden had been herself. She walked with a slight limp, which Eric said she would have for the rest of her life and that was a long time. Eric wouldn't allow her to go back to work and downright refused to get her another motorcycle. Alcide dropped by twice a week to check on both of them and to make sure Sookie hadn't run off again.

At the moment, Sookie couldn't believe what she was doing. Kaden was such a smooth talker that she had coerced Sookie into driving to Fangtasia in Shreveport. At first the blond headed waitress had refused but with the way the blond headed werewolf was talking and acting, she soon was swept up in grabbing her purse and car keys and heading out. Now she knew what Eric meant when he said Kaden always got her way. You never knew if you were coming or going with her.

As they walked up to the door, they saw Pam carding people. The dirty blond vampire was in her normal leather attire but without the pumps. Instead she was in gladiators for some reason. Kaden couldn't squash the laugh that welled up inside her and before Sookie knew what was going on, the other woman was picking on the vampire. Pam was in shock that she didn't say a word as Kaden slid through the crowd.

"Sorry." Sookie apologized as she followed the other woman. She finally caught up to Kaden in the bar. "Do you know how much trouble I'll be in if Eric knows you're here?" Kaden wasn't listening to her. Instead she was frowning as she stared at the front of the bar. Sookie turned and looked. "Oh, God. Kaden, don't!"

It was too late. The werewolf was making a beeline for the front where Eric was sitting. He was flirting with another girl and from the looks of it, she was a werewolf. Sookie swallowed hard. Werewolves were very territorial and this was Kaden's bar. She worked her and sometimes even slept here if she wasn't hurt or running errands.

"Kaden." Eric wasn't shocked by the presence of his werewolf. He knew she'd show up eventually. What he was shocked at was the one she had drug with her. "I thought she'd be safe with you. Looks like I'm wrong."

"Eric, who's this woman?" the other werewolf snarled. Sookie noticed she never took her eyes off Kaden.

"Kaden, meet Alyssa. Alyssa, this is my sister Kaden. She helps me run the bar." Eric made the introductions.

"Yeah, and I'm the only wolf allowed on this stage so I suggest you move your sorry carcass before I move it for you."

Alyssa looked at Eric. He was sitting with his chin in his hand watching the interaction. "Are you going to let her speak to me that way?"

Eric swiveled his head to look at her. "She was here before you and she'll be here long after you. I say she has more right to this than you do."

Alyssa didn't like that answer. She growled once before she turned on Kaden and jumped at her. Kaden side stepped the attack and let her fall to the floor. She wasn't going to fight the new wolf in her territory because of her injury. She kept sidestepping until she hit a table. Glancing back, she got an idea. Sidestepping once more, she let Alyssa's momentum propel her into the wooden fixture. Eric came to her side.

"Sorry. I'll pay for it." She said.

"No, you won't. Alyssa will, won't you, Alyssa?" It wasn't a question it was a demand. Alyssa looked up and nodded. "Good, now Pam will escort you out and you will never come back." Pam was there instantly escorting the other wolf out the door (if you call hauling her up off the floor then throwing her out the door escorting). Eric turned back to Kaden and crossed his arms. "Care to explain?"

"Here it comes." Sookie mumbled. She sat down on the other side of Eric's throne and watched.

"I'm gone six months and you already have another wolf in my place. Sorry, buddy, but that's not happening. No other wolf will be your right hand man unless I'm dead. Even then I'm going to come back and haunt your ass until you pick a decent one. I might not even leave after that." She would have kept going if Eric hadn't placed his hand over her mouth. Her eyes narrowed as she settled down.

"No one is going to take your place. Ever. Even if something did happen to you, I wouldn't choose anyone else to take you spot because you're one in a million. Not every werewolf would hang around vampires for more than a thousand years the way you have." He dropped his hand with a smile. Apparently she licked it or attempted to bite it. "Besides, I'm paying too damn much to keep you alive as is."

Kaden laughed, which had everyone in hearing distance looking at her. Some were shocked that Eric had a smile on his face and others were jealous about it. Whatever it was Sookie couldn't help but smile. She had missed this while she had been gone.

Eric looked over at her. "Take Kaden home and keep her there until I can get there to talk."

"Okay. We'll see you in a bit." Sookie caught Kaden's hand and led her from the bar. Once they were safely in her car and headed home, she looked at her companion. "Did you have fun?"

"I was more mad than anything." Kaden replied.

"Yeah, I know. I figured that when you almost ran across the bar. What was that about?"

Kaden leaned her head against the window and watched as the scenery went by. "Eric and I were raised by Godric. I lost my family to a vampire attack and Eric lost his. I'm older by a hundred years so I got say in what I did. Eric didn't, but we were always close no matter what we did. I moved around a lot with my pack before they were killed in Ireland. I found Godric and Eric staying at a castle. After that we were family, until Eric branched out on his own. I stayed with Godric."

"You weren't there when he died. I would have remembered you."

"No, I wasn't. I was in Hong Kong on a run. Eric got a hold of me as soon as he got back but I had already felt it and was heading home. The fight that ensued wasn't pretty. I beat Eric up pretty badly but he just stood there and let me do it. Pam found us the next night curled up on the couch in the office. It wasn't pretty. After that, you know what happened."

"Yes. The two of you teamed up to take down Russell Edgington. I heard you killed Talbot."

"Yep. I feel really bad about doing that, though. I really liked that guy. If he hadn't been with Russell I would have become his friend."

"Eric wouldn't have minded?"

"Eric and I have an agreement. My friends are mine, even if he doesn't like them. He likes most of them but there're a few he can't stand."

"What happened after I disappeared?" The werewolf sighed and sat up, hissing in pain as she rearranged her leg. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. After you disappeared, everyone went bonkers. Bill took out Sophie-Anne and became king. Jason started taking care of a pack of werepanthers and became a police officer, which I was really impressed by. Eric began diving more into work. Tara disappeared. Lafayette began dating his mother's care giver. Sam went shot at Tommy, which had my name written all over it. Tommy moved in with Ms. Fortenberry." She made a face at that one. "Arlene and Terry got married before Arlene had Mikey, who she still thinks is a demon baby. Oh, and Andy Bellefluer is a drug addict."

Sookie was speechless b the amount of information she was just given. But a few things struck her funny. "Why did Tara leave?"

"Seriously, Sook? She's seen enough crap these last three years that it would drive a sober man to drinking. First with her affair with Sam, then Jason killing Eggs and finally that whacko vampire. I think she deserves a much needed break."

"But she just left."

"So did you."

It was the truth so she didn't argue the fact. "Do you know where she is?" Kaden scratched the back of her neck and nodded. "Is she safe?"

"Yes, she's safe. She seems happy too. I wouldn't try to contact her. She's spent a year thinking you were dead."

"Everyone's though that."

"You did just disappear."

"You do it all the time."

"I have a job that takes me out of town at a moment's notice." She stopped and thought a moment. "Well, I had a job. After being shot, I don't think Eric's going to let me out of his sight."

"Speaking of Eric, did he really think I was coming back?"

The other girl smiled. "Yeah. When Jason put your house up for sale, he made the jump at it. I told him putting a flat screen in there was a mistake." She laughed when Sookie hit her. "But seriously. He was worried. He kept asking if I felt your presence anywhere since I'm better at finding you than he is."

"How's that?"

"I was psychic before I was changed. My powers were enhanced when I was changed."

"Has Eric given you run of the house?"

"Pretty much. He kept me locked in the attic for the first three months because I was so volatile. Alcide was called in to help out but he couldn't be there all day every day so they sedated me during the days. It was hard to go through but Eric was very gentle. Then again he was always gentle with me."

"What about Jason?"

"Jason's Jason. He took it hard when you left. You were the only member of his family still alive so he took it upon himself to make it work for him. He really buckled down and made sure he made something out of himself. He told me once that he did it because it would make you and Gran happy."

Sookie smiled at the thought of her brother straightening up. Then something struck her funny. "What can you tell me of Portia Bellefluer and Bill?"

Kaden snorted then. "She's had a thing for Bill since she came to town. When she found out you were gone, she took it upon herself to make sure he noticed her. She was talking about you but I put her in her place one night. Sam, on the other hand, Sam's turned into an asshole who needs to have a stick to his raw hide and I'll be glad to do it."

Sookie laughed. "Well, thanks for catching me up. Only there's one person who you didn't tell me about. What about Lafayette?"

"Lafayette is the one person I haven't been able to get a handle on. He disappears from time to time and I have no clue where he goes. It's like he disappears off my radar."

"Well, we have to figure it all out." They pulled into the driveway of their shared house, climbed out of the car, and headed for the door. "Are you going to live here from now on?"

"I have no clue. It's whatever Eric says. I kinda have to listen to him now."

"Yes, you do." Eric stood on the porch waiting from them. He reached out for Kaden's hand. She took it and he helped her up the stairs. "Now, let's go talk this through."

Sookie let the door shut behind her.

END


End file.
